


Until We Meet Again

by captaingriffin



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Kid Fic, M/M, Parent Tony Stark, Reunions, Steve is smitten, Superfamily (Marvel), that's it that's the whole fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 02:13:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16525340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captaingriffin/pseuds/captaingriffin
Summary: Steve has a hard time reconciling the fourteen-year-old scrawny Tony Stark he used to know with the attractive man and doting father that stands before him now.





	Until We Meet Again

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Steve/Tony fic, and I decided to stay really on brand by writing dad Tony and toddler Peter and Steve losing his mind over how hot Tony is. I have no shame. My tumblr is avastrrs if you want to come yell with me about superfamily.

What’s sad is that Steve is more shocked by the beard than the kid.

Tony recovers from the surprise first, previously gaping-open mouth slamming shut and twisting into a genuinely warm smile. “Hi, Steve,” he says, and Steve almost goes weak in the knees because of how much deeper Tony’s voice is now. Isn’t it a rule of life that people you knew in high school are not supposed to get hot, so that you can easily pretend the dumb crushes you had on them didn’t exist?

And also, isn’t it a rule of life that you should not have to run into said high school crushes dressed in a ratty Army t-shirt and sweatpants at six in the morning at an organics-only grocery store two hundred miles from the city you both grew up in? That just seems like it would be fair, honestly.

While Steve looks like an embarrassment this early in the morning, sweaty after his daily jog and holding an obnoxiously large bag of kale, the man in front of him who used to be short, scrawny, nerdy Tony Stark is dressed to the nines in a bespoke suit and has a carefully-trimmed beard that’s more geometric than it has any right being. He’s definitely still short, at least, but Steve can tell that he fills out the suit well, lean muscles hiding underneath the crisp navy jacket.

His hair is short, now, too, a sharp contrast to when he was fourteen and it was so curly and unmanageable that it hung in front of his eyes like a curtain. Steve remembers that better than he should, probably because he spent far too many nights drawing sketch after sketch of Tony bent over his homework in the school cafeteria at lunchtime, sitting alone but seemingly unbothered by it.

It looks good. Tony looks, all around, good. Steve’s brain might actually short-circuit a bit, but who could blame him, really.

“Hi, Steve,” someone echos, and Steve’s gaze snaps down to see a little boy with wild brunette hair not unsimilar to teenage Tony’s, clutching his hand and grinning toothily. “I’m Peter. Hi.”

“Hi,” Steve chokes out. The kid looks too much like Tony to be anything but a son, but Tony becoming a father is just about the very last thing that Steve thought he might become as an adult. An alcoholic, probably, a world-changing scientist, definitely, but a father?

Although, to be fair, Steve has definitely lived up to the exact opposite of what the other kids at their school might’ve expected for him. He remembers how he looked, then; malnourished and sickly, too pale and too clumsy. Joining the Army right out of high school really did wonders for his physique, even if no one thought he would make it through day one of training.

So, Tony’s hot and has a kid now, which means he’s probably married and rich and living his best life. But while Steve might be a lame, homely veteran who has more fun trying Pinterest recipes and doing graphic design projects than going out drinking with Bucky and Sam, he knows he’s actually moderately attractive now, so he tries to stand a little straighter and puff his chest out a bit as he finally wipes the shock off his face and smiles at Tony.

“It’s nice to meet you, Peter. Is this your dad?” Steve asks, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah, do you know him? He’s famous,” Peter tells him, smiling smugly like it’s a secret he’s not supposed to share.

Steve bites back a laugh as Tony scoffs and rolls his eyes fondly at the boy, clearly attempting to play coy for Steve’s benefit; but Steve remembers being in Afghanistan and using Stark weapons for protection as well as destruction, and he also remembers the day that his superiors gave them the news that Stark Industries had officially moved out of weapons manufacturing and that from now on, there would only be shipments from Hammer Tech.

That had been the only thing he’d learned about Tony in the ten years since their graduation, and Steve was glad to hear it. He admittedly didn’t know Tony all that well in high school, mostly just admired from afar, but they were close enough that Steve knew Tony’s real passion was green energy. God knows he’d ranted about it to Steve enough times when they had been partnered up for a chem project junior year.

“I do know him, but not because he’s famous. We were friends in school, a long time ago,” Steve says, sharing a private look with Tony. They’re both smiling bashfully, memories of long nights in the library trying to cobble together a good presentation probably running through both their heads.

“Really?” Peter questions, looking up at his dad.

“Yeah, except Steve looked a lot different then,” Tony says pointedly. “What on Earth happened to you, and where can I sign up?”

Steve can’t help but laugh. “Army recruitment center,” he offers, gesturing to his shirt. “I got out last year.”

“No joke? You actually ended up doing that? I kind of always thought you’d go down the art path, half-expected to see you hanging in the Met one day.”

Ignoring the fact that his throat actually closes up a little at the fact that Tony paid enough attention to him back then to notice that he’d liked art, Steve says, “I do graphic design, now. Posters and stuff. But yeah, turns out that my pipe dream had some merit to it. Made Captain and everything.”

Tony ponders this for a moment. “Did they give you a creatine IV or something? Because honestly, I’m really struggling with the fact that I have to look up at you now.”

Chuckling, Steve shakes his head. Good to know that Tony hasn’t lost his snark. “I had a six inch growth spurt two months in. Clearly you’re still waiting for yours,” Steve jests.

“Wow, ouch, Steve. You used to be so much nicer. Time has hardened you. I’m offended.” Tony clutches his chest with his hand, all dramatic sarcasm, and it makes Steve’s shoulders shake with laughter.

“Sorry, you seem to be remembering a different Steve Rogers. I’m the guy who got suspended for punching Tiberius Stone out so hard he faceplanted into the lockers, so clearly I was never all that nice.”

“I disagree, you only stepped in after he hit me first, so it was really very chivalrous of you.”

“Daddy,” Peter gasps, mouth dropping open in scandal. “You used to get in _fights_? That’s bad.”

“You’re absolutely right, Petey, violence is never the answer,” Tony nods, then pauses and whispers to him in mock secretiveness. “Unless the person is being a real jerkface.”

“Daddy,” Peter giggles. “Ms. Potts says that we should treat others the way we want to be treated.”

“She sounds like a smart lady,” Steve agrees. “Is that your teacher? Are you in school already?”

“Yeah, I’m five. I go to the big kid school now, except I already know most of the stuff Ms. Potts teaches us. Daddy’s real smart, so he taught me before.”

“Oh, yeah? Is your mom smart too?” Steve asks, perfectly aware the second it comes out of his mouth what the question actually means, even though he tries to be nonchalant about it, but Tony doesn’t have a wedding ring and he’s curious. Sue him.

Tony looks perfectly aware of what he’s actually asking, too, smiling mischievously at Steve as he answers it for Peter. “It’s just me and Petey. But I’m smart enough for two parents, so we’re all good here. What about you, huh? You got a Mrs. Rogers? Or maybe you ended up with that guy who always looked really murderous in first period, and only smiled when you smiled first?”

“Bucky? No,” Steve laughs, although that’s a pretty accurate depiction of what their friendship was like in high school. “I set up him and his fiancee, actually. I’m the lonely one in the gang.”

“Oh, really?” Tony’s grinning wolfishly now, and Steve wonders if he’s actually flirting successfully with Tony Stark right now. _Fourteen-year-old Steve, you have such a shock coming for you in a decade._ “Guess you’re available for coffee sometime, then?”

“Yeah, I am,” Steve nods, biting his lip to keep from smiling too blindingly. How is this his life right now?

“Can I come? I like hot chocolate,” Peter suggests, looking up at the two of them, his innocent child’s mind completely missing the part where his daddy looks like he’s about to pounce on Steve in the middle of the grocery store.

“Uh, I think this one’s gonna be just me and Steve, Pete. Next time, though.” Tony squeezes Peter’s hand, offering him a small smile before going right back to staring into Steve’s soul through his eyes. “Is your number the same? I’ll call you.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it is. Um, I look forward to hearing from you,” Steve says, immediately cringing internally at how bad of a line that was.

Tony’s laughing, though. “Do you, now? Should we shake hands? Was this a job interview?”

“Oh, shut up.”

“That’s not a nice thing to say, Steve,” Peter points out.

“Sorry, Peter. You’re right.”

“Get used to that,” Tony remarks, grinning down at Peter and then up at Steve, almost in disbelief, and Steve is right there in the same boat as him. He woke up this morning planning to work out, go for a grocery run, and then maybe finish up a project or two, and instead he’s got a date with Tony Stark who apparently has a kid and is hot now. Life is weird, sometimes. Steve’s not complaining about it anymore.

Later, when Tony’s parting words finally register with him, Steve can’t seem to stop grinning as he washes mushrooms under the sink. _Get used to that_. Like he might get to stick around for a little while. Like maybe the next few foreseeable months of his life will include getting coffee and hot chocolate with his boyfriend and his son, and getting told off for swearing and trading inside jokes with a man who gives as good as he gets.

It doesn’t sound so bad. It sounds pretty great, actually.


End file.
